AIACAT

Modified undergraduate courses according to National Education Policy (NEP) will be introduced in all agriculture universities of the country from the upcoming academic session 2024-2025, said a senior Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) official.

We are revising and modifying undergraduate curriculum as per the guidelines laid down in the NEP and already many of its aspects have been implemented in all the agriculture universities.

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New curriculum will be launched across agriculture universities across the country from the first academic session of 2024-25," Dr RC Agrawal, deputy director general (agricultural education), ICAR said on the sidelines of his meeting at the Indore regional ICAR centre.

ICAR also plans to launch new short term vocational courses across agriculture universities and has collaborated with foreign universities like Canada and Sydney according to NEP guidelines.

"WE are planning to frame guidelines for launching short term vocational courses in universities. These will include diploma courses which would be framed according to the new trend and requirement of the market. We already have plenty of vocational courses and some of these courses have seen good enquiries in universities at Gwalior and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh," said Agrawal.

There are 76 agricultural universities in the country comprising 65 state universities, 4 deemed universities, 3 central universities and 4 central universities having faculties of agriculture.

Agrawal further added that there has been a trend of increase in vocational and skill based courses in the recent past and they are in talks with central agencies for adding more value addition courses.

We have already begun the process of talking to Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI) and National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) to increase the number of skill based and vocational courses. We have already begun the process of working on a number of proposals and we will finalize the best and most popular courses soon," Agrawal said.

According to NEP guidelines, ICAR has also launched e-learning portals through which nearly 100 courses were made digital and will be provided to every agriculture university of the country while live class lectures of more than 4,000 courses were uploaded on agri diksha portal.

Online applications can be submitted to NTA up to March 26. Courses include geography, statistics, chemistry, mathematics, psychology, political science, international relations, history, sociology, physics, English, economics, commerce, Hindi, BBA-LLB. Admission through CUET UG 2024 in hybrid or pen and paper test mode. Results on June 30.

Short-term course at MNNIT starts

MNNIT Allahabad GIS Cell has launched a national level two-week short-term course on InSAR for disaster preparedness and precursors. It is supported by ISRO Disaster Management Support (DMS) capacity building programme and it is in 3rd edition. Its course coordinator is Ramji Dwivedi. It has associate professors, scientists, and PhD students from various prestigious institutions.

India's agricultural economy powers the country's economy, with nearly half of India's workforce engaged in agriculture and contributing significantly to rural living and food security. 

In order to fulfill these needs, Indian agricultural education has to catch up and keep pace with the newer needs of the industry. The system has, over the years, fallen behind in trying to get modernized, with course being very detached from the needs of the new market.

As a result, there were no problem-solving and technology skills to deal with complex, cross-disciplinary problems among graduates. Additionally, undergraduate students, especially in the urban region, have never been prepared to pursue agriculture as a field of study because they perceived pursuing agriculture is time-wasting and non-remitting.

Although India needs around 10,00,000 agriculture and other farm graduates, only half the number is available for employment. "We are not strong and efficient enough in numbers to do farming," quoted a young veterinary science student Bharthiban from Tamil Nadu.

Aware of this, the Indian Government and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in association with the World Bank launched the National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) during 2017. The mega initiative had two-fold objectives: to form and strengthen agricultural universities (AUs) within the country and equip students with industry skills, knowledge, and entrepreneurial spirit needed by an evolving industry. The concept was to update agricultural education to make it inspiring, stimulating and recent and, in the process, productive, income-driven and climate-resilient agriculture.

Sowing the Seeds of Change

Through the project, ICAR has brought India's 74 agricultural universities at par with the rest of the world with improved curriculum, creative pedagogy, electronic learning and future classrooms.

These institutions are more multidisciplinary in nature and dedicated to educating their students with the sets of skills required for confronting the demands of a changing industry.

Over 600 new courses have been developed that are within the umbrella of the markets, such as entrepreneurship, agri-business analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics, and precision agriculture. Ninety-seven disciplines have been refurbished to equip students with the skills to compete in an increasingly competitive contemporary world.

Sophisticated labs expose students to new technologies

The students are being educated in sophisticated laboratories, where they are being equipped with the use of GPS, drones and remote sensing. This is being carried out with the private sector to ensure that training gives students skills that are employable.

I also learned how to handle and pilot drones and utilize them for spraying pesticides and fertilizers."

She is now a professional drone instructor but one day hopes to be an entrepreneur. "I would love to have a business in the drone field," she states firmly of a promising future.

Virtual classrooms have even been set up by some colleges to offer online instruction as a supplement to regular in-class instruction in one of the better ways of teaching large groups of students at lower cost.

They are instructed by international and national experts online and get to see places they could not go to otherwise and acquire knowledge they would never have gotten wind of.

From her Assam village, 23-year-old student Kavita explains how studying online enhanced her abilities. "I can read satellite maps and operate drones at home.

As the economic backbone of India, agriculture is nurturing about half of India's population and continues to rule the game of food security and rural development. 

The new 2025 Agriculture Policy is built on the pillars of five elements of sustainability, technology, infrastructure, income security, and market reforms. At the core is climate-smart agriculture and initiatives that Indian farms will have more than 50% climate-resilient practices by 2025. Some of them are sustainable irrigation, conservation of soil health, and watershed-based conservation programs to reduce carbon footprint and natural resource conservation.

Financial empowerment comes second. The policy fosters an advanced Minimum Support Price (MSP) system, income transfer with selectivity, and intelligent crop insurance schemes to stabilize incomes and reduce risk. Digital agriculture is being powered up through AI, satellite data, IoT sensors, and e-markets platforms, opening the farm gate to access to real-time information and improved price discovery.

Investment in infrastructure is also picking up, including rural logistics, warehousing, and cold chains for reduction of post-harvest losses and robust supply chains. At the same time, market reforms are enabling a Unified National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), contract farming, and direct buyer-seller connections, which is enabling producers with more freedom and better terms of trade.

The government's progressive policy also extends to small and marginal farmers, with the benefits accruing to them through land pooling models, easier access to credit, and scaling up of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).

India's agriculture in 2025 is not only production—it's transformation. With digital innovation and sustainability at the center, the nation is rediscovering its future in agriculture with growth that is sustainable, resilient, and inclusive and securing a future of prosperity and safety for farmers

Indian agricultural education is trapped in the Green Revolution period. ICAR reforms aim to overhaul curricula with experience in AI, climate technology, and global markets.

Satnam Singh was 28 when he joined the college for agricultural graduate degrees. Not willing to fall prey to unscientific farming practices and adhere to 'modern farming education', he had planned on carrying his family's farming legacy forward in Punjab's Ferozepur—and adding a 21st century spin to it.

But his BSc in agriculture and MSc in agronomy from Tiwari Agriculture Institute in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, had imbued in him something which was rooted in India's Green Revolution era days of scarcity-and-hunger.

And so when finally it was time to get his boots dirty, he realized how much farmers knew compared to what he had learned in his books.

"Whatever I have learned of today's agriculture, I have learned from working with farmers and not in classrooms," Singh supplemented.

His schooling had been confined to classrooms with outdated textbooks and no consideration of marketable skills—illustrating the need for Indian agriculture education reform.

Singh's experience is representative of the dismal state of India's agricultural education, in which the curriculum remains stuck in the dominant focus on increasing crop yields.

Though course reforms have been proposed previously, institutes ignore them as they are not mandatory.

Twenty-first-century farming is the big gaping hole in policy-making—and it starts with an antiquated educational system.

I have learned more about agriculture today than in schools

But over the last few years, it is these farmers who have been educating him—on the new machinery, artificial intelligence, new methods, export markets, new varieties of seeds, and adaptation to climate change.

Avinash Kishore, senior research fellow of the International Food Policy Research Institute, said Indian agricultural institutions are in an "incestuous trap" where professors merely teach what they learned years before.

These reforms, experts supplement, can help institutes gear up to address issues of the day like climate change, population explosion, erosion of the topsoil, technological upgradation, and the growing role of private players in the industry.

As it stands now, I would argue that an economics graduate from a quality university is learning more about social sciences, agriculture economics, and market systems than an agricultural sciences student," Kishore added.

He observed institutes have become better in terms of equipment but pedagogy remains to be desired.

"Agricultural institutes in India are largely educational and research institutions all in one, so they have huge potential for creating experiment-based systems. But that is not happening," he added.

The disparity is reflected in the latest National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings. Under the 'quality of publication' parameter (worth 40 marks), IARI had recorded 38.69. It also got 10.50 out of 15 for granted patents.

Punjab Agricultural University, ranked number three, got only 29.87 on publication and 4.5 on granted patents.

Smaller institutes fare worse. West Bengal's Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya averaged a meager 5.87 in publications and zero in patents issued.

Statistics indicate that students are seeking education abroad more and more. Foreign Admits notes that since 2020, there has been a 30 percent year-on-year growth in enquires for agricultural courses in universities abroad, with a 75 percent growth in 2023 alone.

These are Canada, New Zealand, and Australia as sites for agribusiness, food safety, and sustainability programs.

Textbooks are a different story.

One of Singh's first-year textbooks, the 2015 'Principles and Applications of Agricultural Meteorology,' makes no mention of contemporary forecasting technology and fails to cover climate change. It talks about employing 'altostratus clouds' to forecast monsoons—despite the fact that, says the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the clouds have not been seen in the tropics in more than ten years.

ICAR reforms: modernise Indian farming

In the floodplains of the Yamuna, Dhruv Singh, a third-year IARI student reading BSc Agriculture with specialization in agricultural chemistry, soil science and entomology, swishes a metal rod across the ground. It's connected to a pager-sized small gadget his class created to analyze moisture and nutrient content.

"This device has the potential to allow farmers to analyze soil quality before they plant crops," said Singh. It is still in the testing stage but exactly the type of innovation the curricular reforms at ICAR aim to encourage.

Agriculture universities: adopt new approaches to cultivation

India's top institutions are at the forefront. 

IARI runs nearly 800 programs, ranging from microbiology and genetics to floriculture, bioinformatics, and agri-statistics.

"During course revision, we try to become a role model for small institutes and universities, which can take our models to improve their courses," stated AK Singh, director of IARI.

"It was like we were being asked to compete barefoot at the Olympics. But we have shoes now, and perhaps we can write a new chapter of history," he further added.

As India grapples with food security and sustainable development for its millions, agricultural education is seeing a renaissance—driven by the revolutionary power of fieldwork. The days when textbooks were the bible and class rooms were artificial are gone, fieldwork is the backbone of agriculture education in 2025, which offers students a ringside view to issues and innovations that are shaping modern agriculture.

In contrast to rote learning, field exposure makes students acquainted with real agricultural environments where they witness everything related to crop agriculture, pest management, and resource handling in situ. Not only does the field exposure enhance their scientific consciousness, but it also enhances very important life skills—problem-solving, adaptability, teamwork, and decision-making. Excellent teachers assert that these are the skills required to make young professionals ready to face uncertain challenges like climate change, resource degradation, and volatile markets.

Cooperation is an indicator of good fieldwork. Students interact with farmers, agronomists, and technical experts, mastering the shortcuts and people relationships that one cannot learn from books. 

Technology reigns supreme in the farm field training phase nowadays. Learners use cell phone apps, sensors, and remote-monitoring tools to gather and evaluate data, developing technical skill and readiness for a more digitalized agriculture sector. Teachers create holistic assessments—project reports, team projects, hands-on exercises—to make field experience worth it in the long term.

Apart from the individual, farm fieldwork is empowering rural people, encouraging cross-innovation, and building leadership among students. In overcoming the theory-practice divide, farm fieldwork is building a new generation of individuals as tough, well-educated professionals and will shape the future of India for sustainable agriculture.

Agriculture is an important branch of the Indian economy and society as it provides access to food production, agribusiness, biotechnology, rural development, and environmental sustainability. This has led to a situation where private universities in India are now associated with high quality programmes both at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level in the field of agriculture and allied sciences. The following are the top private institutions and the best agriculture courses that they offer.

Leading Private Universities for Agriculture

Amity University: Known for industry ties, practical training, and cutting-edge labs.​

• B.Sc (Hons) Agriculture
• M.Sc Agronomy, M.Sc Genetics and Plant Breeding
• PhD Agriculture/Economics/Extension

Lovely Professional University (LPU): Offers ICAR-accredited courses and strong placement statistics.​

• B.Sc Agriculture
• M.Sc Agriculture (various specializations)
• PhD Agriculture

VIT Vellore:Popular for research, biotech overlap, and modern campus.​

• B.Sc Agriculture
• M.Sc Agriculture
• PhD Agriculture

Shoolini University: Known for research and innovation in agricultural biotechnology.​

• B.Sc Agriculture
• M.Sc (Agronomy, Plant Pathology, Soil Science)
• PhD in Agriculture Sciences

Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education: Focus on sustainable farming and high-tech training.​

• B.Sc Agriculture, M.Sc Agriculture, and PhD

SGT University: Specialized programs and ICAR approval.​

• B.Sc Agriculture
• M.Sc Agriculture
• PhD Agricultural Sciences

Mansarovar Global University (MGU): Offers diploma to postgraduate agriculture courses covering core and advanced subjects.​

What Are the Most Popular Agriculture Courses?

1. Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) in Agriculture: Four-year degree covering agronomy, soil science, entomology, crop protection, and extension.​ Practical study and regular internships are also offered.
2. Master of Science (M.Sc) in Agriculture: Advanced training in fields like genetics, plant breeding, horticulture, soil management, and agricultural economics.
3. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Agriculture: Research programmes focusing on new tech, crop improvement, extension education, biotechnology, and rural development.
4. Specializations: Agronomy, Plant Breeding, Agri-Genomics, Biotechnology, Soil Science, Agricultural Economics, Extension Education, Plant Pathology.

Admission and Accreditation

ICAR-accreditated many private universities are guaranteed in the quality of the curriculum and recognition on the national level. Entrance tests (such as LPUNEST, AIACAT, university-specific tests or ICAR tests) are typically required to take up admissions, and M.Sc and PhD programmes usually require good academic background and research proposal.​

Why Select a Privatised University to study Agriculture?

1. State-of-the-art facilities
2. Good placement support and industry connections.
3. Technology and entrepreneurship in modern curriculum.
4. Cooperation with agro-companies, start-ups, and research laboratories.

In short, Amity, LPU, VIT Vellore, Shoolini, Kalasalingam, SGT University, and MGU are currently popular in India for offering agricultural courses. They offer all-inclusive education, cosmopolitan exposure and career based training, which equips future leaders in Indian agriculture.